Esma Akram

"'How Travel Influencers Reframe Afghanistan and What That Means for Afghan Women"

Advisor: Dr. Rani Mullen

This project looks at how Afghanistan is portrayed to the world after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. While human rights organizations describe severe restrictions on women and democracy index's describe Afghanistan as an authoritarian regime, a growing number of travel influencers show Afghanistan as a welcoming and adventurous destination. This research asks whether these online portrayals risk normalizing Taliban rule or obscuring the realities faced by Afghan women. By comparing online portrayals with documented conditions for women, the project identifies where major gaps in representation emerge. The anticipated findings suggest that influencer narratives emphasize culture and hospitality while largely avoiding discussion of women’s rights. This gap may shape global perceptions in ways that soften or conceal the severity of women’s exclusion. The project ultimately aims to show how digital media influences international understanding of conflict, governance, and gender in Afghanistan.

Esma Akram is a senior majoring in Government and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at William and Mary. Her research focuses on media, conflict, and gender in Afghanistan, with a thesis examining how travel influencers shape global perceptions of Taliban rule and Afghan women’s lives. She focuses on questions of legitimacy, governance, and how digital media shapes global understanding of conflict. She is also active in Student Assembly and started the Afghan Student Association at William & Mary.

James Elmore

"Searching for Strongly Regular Graphs"

Advisor: Dr. Eric Swartz

An (n, k, t, λ, μ)-directed strongly regular graph (DSRG) is an n-vertex k-regular graph such that every vertex has exactly t undirected edges, every pair of adjacent vertices share λ common neighbors, and every pair of nonadjacent vertices share μ common neighbors. Through exhaustive search using a GPU-accelerated algorithm, we classify all directed Cayley graphs on 36 vertices or fewer that are strongly regular. 

James Elmore is a senior studying mathematics and computer science. His thesis examines how machine learning and search algorithms can find new mathematical structures. 

William Torg

"Rydberg Atom Vector Electrometry"

Advisor: Dr. Irina Novikova

We present progress towards the development of a non-invasive atomic electrometry method capable of full vector reconstruction of an electric field. Our measurements utilize 85Rb atomic vapor and two-photon Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) at a highly excited Rydberg state. Electric fields produce a DC stark shift of the 46D Rydberg level which corresponds to a frequency shift of the EIT peak in the recorded spectra, enabling measurement of electric field magnitude. The populations of specific levels are polarization-dependent, enabling electric field direction measurement. We demonstrate sensitivity to these population effects, and describe how this sensitivity enables vector measurement of the electric field.

Will Torg is majoring in Physics at William & Mary. His research interests involve quantum optics, specifically concerning precision metrology. His thesis addresses non-invasive measurement of electric field magnitude and direction using Electromagnetically Induced Transparency. 

Caroline Cashman

"'Saturation Numbers for Vertex-Ordered Graphs"

Advisor: Dr. Gexin Yu

Optimization is a problem that is important in almost every aspect of life. We can view this problem mathematically by considering graphs, which are collections of vertices and edges which connect them, and determining how to minimize the number of edges so that the graph still maintains a given property. In particular, the saturation number, denoted sat(n,F), is the minimum number of edges a graph on n vertices can have so that it contains no copy of a forbidden subgraph F, but adding any edge creates a copy of F. Saturation numbers require creativity to work with, as they are known for often behaving in unexpected ways. We can consider this problem in the context of ordered graphs, where we assign an order to the vertices of both the host graph and the forbidden subgraph. By proving some key combinatorial lemmas and using a creative partitioning of the vertices, we provide the first exact results on the saturation number of vertex-ordered graphs. 

Caroline Cashman is majoring in Mathematics at William & Mary. She is primarily interested in combinatorics, specifically extremal graph theory and Ramsey theory. Her thesis investigates saturation numbers for vertex-ordered graphs. She plans to continue this work in a pure math PhD program. 

Josh Levin

"3D Printing the Human Microenvironment: A Bone-on-a-Chip Model for Diabetic Skeletal Disease"

Advisor: Dr. Indranath Mitra

Diabetes weakens bones and slows healing, leaving millions of people more vulnerable to fractures and long-term complications. Many laboratory studies attempt to understand this process by exposing bone and cartilage cells directly to high sugar levels. However, in the body, these cells do not experience glucose in this way. Instead, glucose and other metabolic byproducts travel through microscopic blood vessels called capillaries, diffusing through their thin walls before reaching bone and cartilage tissue. This diffusion process may be a key—but often overlooked—factor in how diabetes causes skeletal degeneration.

This research investigates whether altered vascular diffusion of glucose contributes to the loss of bone and cartilage function in diabetes. To explore this question, a 3D-printed “bone-on-a-chip” system is being developed to recreate the microenvironment of bone tissue, including the vascular network that delivers nutrients. The device features a central channel that simulates a capillary and a custom-engineered hydrogel barrier that mimics the vessel wall, allowing glucose to pass through at controlled rates. A combination of vascular, bone, and cartilage cells will be cultured within interconnected chambers to observe how nutrient diffusion affects their health and behavior under diabetic conditions.

By replicating the way nutrients and glucose actually move through bone tissue, this platform provides a more realistic and ethical alternative to animal testing. It also lays the groundwork for future personalized disease models and biomaterials that better support bone repair in people with diabetes."

Josh Levin is majoring in Physics at William & Mary. His research merges engineering design and medical innovation to 3D print “bone-on-a-chip” systems: tiny living platforms that mimic the body’s microenvironment. His honors thesis develops a microfluidic device and a hydrogel barrier that recreate vascular glucose diffusion in diabetic bone tissue, thereby creating a more ethical and accurate model of diabetic bone disease.

Macie McGraw

"'Let’s Stick Together: Investigating micro-multicellular phenotypes across 1,000 isolates of S. cerevisiae "

Advisor: Dr. Helen Murphy

The common brewer’s yeast, S. cerevisiae, is found around the world, from domestic populations in beer-brewing, to wild populations living in tree bark. Some isolates of this yeast are obligately single-celled, obligately multicellular, or have a plastic multicellular response. These different growth forms make it an ideal system to study the selective pressures that may favor the evolution of  multicellularity. In yeast, multicellularity can be facilitated by the surface protein Flo11, which forms covalent bonds between cells, and the lectin-like surface protein Flo1, which binds reversibly and non-covelently to cells’ mannose residues. Flo1-mediated binding is called “flocculation,” and is often selected for by brewers. To understand which micro-multicellular phenotypes are associated with which ecological niches, we screened a panel of 1,011 of S. cerevisiae isolated from a wide variety of environments. To quantify the degree of obligate multicellularity, strains were grown in rich medium, imaged in a 96 well plate, and particle sizes were calculated. Strains were also grown in low-dextrose media to screen for plastic response to glucose limitation. Results show that strains isolated in different ecotypes exhibit different degrees of obligate micro-multicellularity, with most extreme phenotypes found in bioethanol production. Strains isolated from alcoholic beverage environments had the largest plastic response in glucose-limited conditions. Next steps will include screening for Flo1 vs. Flo11 adhesion to get a fuller picture of how ecotype shapes micro-multicellularity.

Macie McGraw is a Biology major at William & Mary. Macie's research in Dr. Murphy's evolutionary biology lab has included investigations into opportunistic pathogenicity and the evolution of multicellularity in common brewer's yeast, S. cerevisiae.  Macie's thesis explores the distribution of multicellular phenotypes across a global panel of 1,000 different yeast isolates, to understand selective pressures that may lead to the evolution of multicellularity.

Margaret O'Hara

"High Throughput Screen for Inhibitors of Key Protein-Protein Interaction in Multidrug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa"

Advisor: Dr. Isabelle Taylor

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a multidrug resistant bacterium and leading cause of hospital acquired infection. An interaction between proteins PqsE and RhlR is critical to the virulence of P. aeruginosa. It enables the pathogen to synthesize toxins and form biofilms: sticky conglomerates of bacteria that are difficult to penetrate with antibiotics. Previous structural studies have shown that PqsE must be in a specific conformation to interact with RhlR. Using small molecules to lock PqsE in its noninteracting conformation could serve as a therapeutic strategy for resistant infections.

In this work, a library of diverse chemical compounds was screened to find molecules with inhibitory potential. Over 5500 small molecules were tested for their ability to bind PqsE using differential scanning fluorimetry, a technique that measures the melting point of a protein in the presence of a drug. This screen has yielded over 60 chemical structures that both raise and lower the melting temperature of the protein. These molecules will be analyzed for their functional effect on the RhlR interaction, with a special focus on the melting temperature lowering compounds. In addition, new assays were developed to test for the conformational state and analyze compound binding. This work could pave the way for a novel narrow spectrum antibiotic targeting P. aeruginosa.

Maggie O’Hara, class of 2026, is majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Biology at William & Mary. Her research areas include biochemistry, microbiology, and medicinal chemistry. Her thesis addresses growing antibiotic resistance by targeting novel pathways in bacteria.

Alexa Chambers

"Decolonizing Public History: Indigenous Representation in Museums"

Advisor: Dr. Andrew Fisher

My thesis will study two different museums and their relationships to Indigenous artifacts and communities. My thesis studies how Indigenous representation can work to decolonize the museum field. I focus on the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington DC, and the Aquinnah Cultural Center on Martha's Vineyard. Both museums focus on Native American history and work closely with Native peoples to ensure that a Native-centric history is being told. The NMAI is a Smithsonian museum that operates under federal oversight but has been a Native focused museum since its inception in 1989. It works with hundreds of different Native nations, especially in North America, and is one of the most popular museums on Native American history. The Aquinnah Cultural Center is the tribal museum of the Aquinnah Wampanoag, on Martha's Vineyard. Their museum is much smaller and focuses on Aquinnah Wampanoag history. Both museums are entrenched in Native history and activism yet operate very differently in the museum field. I argue that tribal museums with their inherent Indigeneity and Native worldview, as well as their willingness to fully consider the hard truths of colonization, work as a better example of a decolonizing force that works to decolonize the museum field and the history museum field more specifically. The National Museum of the American Indian, while a museum that has close connections with many Native nations, does not properly address the hard truths of colonization, and with federal oversight cannot be a decolonizing museum. 

Alexa Chambers is a senior in the Joint Degree Programme at William & Mary. Her research areas focus primarily on contemporary Native American history. Her thesis studies the connection between Native American communities and artifacts and their relationship with the National Museum of the American Indian, and tribal museums broadly. The thesis discusses how museums can work as a decolonizing force and how Indigeneity is central to museums that discuss Native history and culture. 

Georgia Freyer

"When Representation Fails: Political Protest in 21st Century Chile "

Advisor: Dr. Mark Deming

The 21st century in Chile has been characterized by high levels of social mobilization. Previous research has attributed these protests to the inability of traditional political parties to respond to pervasive inequalities in the country’s educational, health, and pension systems. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to explain the exact mechanisms by which this process occurs. In this article I argue electoral disproportionality is to blame for the growth of protest, pointing to the country’s binomial electoral system as both the source of the parties’ immobilization and a driver of public dissatisfaction with representative institutions. Using data from 38,551 protest events and seven parliamentary elections, I investigate whether electoral distortion is positively significant correlated with protest activity across lower-chamber districts. Bivariate & fixed-effects models generated conflicting results, suggesting the importance of macro-level factors in determining the extent of protest activity. Future research should explore electoral disproportionality and political protest across several countries in order to fully understand how the two might be linked. 

Georgia Freyer is a senior majoring in Government and History. Her research interests include political protest, authoritarian legacies, and collective memory. Her thesis, on the relationship between electoral malapportionment and political protest in Chile, was inspired by the comparative politics class she took her very first semester of college. Her work has been published in the Vanderbilt Historical Review and on the Pulitzer Center’s website.

Katie Barlow

"Microbial Soup: Nectar Microbes Impact Pollen Germination Vigor in Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)"

Advisor: Dr. Harmony Dalgleish

Pollen tube growth, the process where pollen grains grow the tubes that fertilize ovules, is an integral step in plant reproduction. In common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), this process is complicated because the pollen grains must germinate while submerged in nectar and interacting with nectar microbes. This research addresses the question: how do nectar microbes influence pollen germination?  We first compared the germination vigor of pollen tubes growing in field collected nectar to that of those growing in nectar that had been filtered to remove microbes. We found that removing microbes consistently led to higher germination vigor but that the strength of this improvement decreased throughout the season. We next compared the germination vigor of pollen tubes growing in nectar that had been visited by pollinators to that of those growing in nectar never visited by pollinators. Preventing pollinators from visiting nectar stopped them from introducing new microbes to the nectar. We found that unvisited nectar consistently had higher germination vigor than visited nectar but that the difference decreased throughout the season, mirroring the previous results. Genetic analysis revealed that visited and unvisited nectars had different microbial communities but that both of these communities changed over the course of the season. This research demonstrates that some, but not necessarily all, nectar microbes inhibit pollen tube growth and that both germination vigor and microbial community vary based on time throughout the season.

Katie Barlow is a Biology major at William & Mary. She researches the reproductive biology of common milkweed, focusing on how nectar microbes impact pollination. She has presented her research at the South Eastern Population Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics Conference and the Mid-Atlantic Ecological Society of America Conference. Her areas of study include botany, fire ecology, and mathematical biology.

Joshua Tessler

"Mandated Density and Housing Prices: Causal Evidence from the Bay Area"

Advisor: Dr. Tate Twinam

This paper examines the causal effect of nearby residential density on preexisting housing prices. Prior literature finds that new density increases housing prices in close proximity while decreasing prices across the broader surrounding area; this study contributes to that literature by being the first to leverage multiple planned building communities as a source of increased density. Using tract-level data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the U.S. Census, and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), this study isolates the effects of increased density through a difference-in-differences framework. Census tracts within a half-mile radius of transit-oriented developments (TODs) built around BART stations serve as the treatment group. Two control groups are used: census tracts surrounding stations with planned TODs within the next 15 years, and census tracts located within three miles of BART stations but outside the half-mile treatment radius. Increases in density could lead to increased demand for amenities like shops and restaurants, which in turn could lead to increased housing prices. Furthermore, denser areas tend to attract less people with children which increases the tax base without having a proportional increase in children who use local schools. However, these effects could be mitigated by increased traffic or depletion of other other public goods without the requisite increase in taxes. Larger buildings also take up more space in the skyline which can lead people to dislike them on aesthetic grounds.

Joshua Tessler is majoring in Economics at William & Mary. His research areas include econometrics, urban economics and applied policy analysis. His thesis examines housing prices in the Bay Area. In his free time Joshua is an avid runner and cyclist.

Andrew Beck

"The Relationship Between Parental Empathy and Sibling Relationship Quality Through the Mediators of Children’s Theory of Mind and Emotion Recognition Classification and Generation"

Advisor: Dr. Madelyn Labella

Empirical research has shown higher levels of parental empathy are associated with better emotional regulation and lower risk of conduct problems (Meng et al., 2020,  Zhang, 2024). Less is known about the relationship between parental empathy and sibling relationship quality, particularly the role of children’s social-emotional skills. The current study aims to address this gap by examining associations between parental empathy  and aspects of sibling relationships (i.e., warmth, agonism, and rivalry; Kramer & Baron, 1995). Additionally, this study will explore two potential mediators of this relationship: children’s theory of mind and emotion recognition. Theory of mind refers to the ability to understand others’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Wellman & Liu, 2004), while emotion recognition refers to the ability to accurately identify emotions in oneself and others. These cognitive milestones, which develop across early childhood, may help explain why more empathic parenting is associated with more positive sibling relationships. Findings from this study may clarify links among parenting factors, children’s social-emotional development, and sibling dynamics, with potential implications for improving sibling relationships through family-based interventions. We hypothesize that parental empathy will be associated with better sibling relationships, as indicated by higher warmth, lower agonism, and lower rivalry. Our second hypothesis is that parental empathy will have indirect effects on sibling relationship quality through children's social-emotional skills (theory of mind and emotion recognition). 

Andrew Beck is pursuing a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Business Analytics at William & Mary. His research interests include family dynamics, children’s emotional development, and prosocial behavior. Under the mentorship of Professor Labella, his honors thesis examines parental empathy’s effect on sibling relationship quality through the mediators of children’s theory of mind and emotion recognition.

Jacob Herz

"The Brain Behind Your Brain: Designing Lightweight Pupillary Assessment Neural Networks Optimized for Edge Deployment"

Advisor: Dr. Ran Yang

In emergency situations when a patient is suspected to have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the easiest way to determine TBI in real time is to perform a pupillary assessment with a penlight. Contraction and dilation of the pupil in response to a light stimulus is one of the simplest ways to analyze a patient’s brain health. However, when emergency responders are in these critical situations, they are limited by pupil dilation guides, which force the user to make a quick, subjective and often inaccurate decision. Computational algorithms like neural networks have been in use for nearly 70 years, with significant breakthroughs in computer vision in the last 20 years. In my research, I am implementing these tools into a high-tech penlight that preserves the small pen-like profile and ease of use, and provides a much more objective assessment in real-time. Specifically, the custom AI model that I am creating will locate the pupil and analyze its response to a stimulus, from images fed in real-time by a camera embedded in the penlight. The key to the model design is finding the sweet spot between computational power, time of inference, and model accuracy, to yield optimal results for users and patient brain health diagnosis. This new technology will reduce subjectiveness of pupillary measurements by penlight and decrease response time in emergency situations.

Jacob Herz is a Physics major concentrating in Engineering Physics and Applied Design (EPAD) with a Mathematics minor at William & Mary. His research focuses on the product development of a smart penlight, applying physical concepts and critical thinking skills learned throughout the EPAD coursework and lab work. Specifically, his thesis focuses on design and implementation of a custom neural network for an embedded system that performs pupillary assessments in real time.

Alice Hu

"Synthetic Circuit of B.subilis Biofilm: A Strategy for Microbe Induced Corrosion Inhibitiont"

Advisor: Dr. Margaret Saha

Corrosion of metal infrastructure in aquatic environments causes infrastructure damage and economic loss. Some natural bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, form protective biofilms that can slow corrosion, but these biofilms are not always strong or stable enough to be reliable. My project asks whether we can strengthen these biofilms to improve their corrosion inhibition ability by editing the bacteria’s genome.

To explore this question, I engineered Bacillus subtilis strains to overexpress the genes that control biofilm formation. I then tested whether these modified bacteria could create thicker and more hydrophobic biofilms, which are traits known to improve protection of metal surfaces. I evaluated biofilm structure using microscopy and examined changes in bacterial gene activity using RNA sequencing, measuring which genes are upregulated or downregulated in different environments.

Our results show that certain engineered strains produce noticeably stronger and more protective biofilms on steel surfaces. RNA-seq data also revealed how the bacteria adjust their internal programs when growing in a corrosion-related environment, helping us understand why some designs work better than others.

This project demonstrates a sustainable, bacteria-based strategy for protecting metal without chemical coatings. It also provides a framework for designing future living materials that respond to and repair environmental damage.

Alice (Xinyu) Hu is a Biology major and Math minor at William & Mary. Her research focuses on synthetic biology. She engineered Bacillus subtilis biofilm by overexpressing regulatory genes to enhance corrosion protection and applied RNA-seq to characterize transcriptomic shifts. She has presented this work at multiple conferences.

Ana Kothandrarm

"Variation in Resistance to Predation and Virulence in the 1,011 Saccharomyces cerevisiae Genome Panel"

Advisor: Dr. Helen Murphy

In recent years, opportunistic pathogens, or pathogens that have the ability to live without a host, have become an increasing problem in the medical field, especially when causing infections in immunocompromised patients. The accidental virulence hypothesis provides one explanation for the evolution of opportunistic pathogens, positing that selective pressures in the environment can favor traits which coincidentally increase pathogenicity. One such pressure is amoeba predation, which could favor traits that allow microbes to avoid engulfment by both amoeba and immune cells. Using a collection of 1,011 isolates of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae from across the world and various ecological niches, this project examines the relationship between resistance to amoeba predation and increased virulence in yeast isolates. The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoidieum served as the model predator. Each of the 1,011 strains was co-cultured with the amoeba and predation levels were estimated. There was a wide-range of resistance levels, which appeared to be associated with isolate origin. The wax moth Galleria mellonella was used as the model host to study virulence, with a subset of yeast strains exhibiting varying levels of predation injected into larvae to observe their virulence. Factors such as yeast growth rate and clumpiness appeared to play a stronger role in virulence than ability to resist predation. The genes underlying all these traits were identified, providing an in-depth understanding of the evolution of virulence in these opportunistic pathogens. 

Ana Kothandram is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in History at William & Mary. Her research focuses on evolutionary biology and genetics using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Dictyostelium discoideum, and Galleria mellonella. Her thesis investigates how the evolution of pathogenicity relates to resistance to predation in opportunistic pathogens.

Marina Ashurkoff

"'Quartz Formation at Montpelier Plantation, Virginia: A Geologic Mystery with Anthropologic Connections"

Advisor: Dr. Clem Hamelin

Quartz crystal ecofacts (objects that provide ecological context at a human centered site) discovered at James Madison’s Montpelier in north-central Virginia provide an opportunity to improve the regional geologic understanding of Virginia’s Blue Ridge and provide context for an ongoing anthropologic story. These ecofacts were discovered in Montpelier’s Burial Ground of the Enslaved. Two major geologic units underlie Montpelier, the Catoctin Formation (a rock formation of lava that was later metamorphosed by the addition of fluids) and sedimentary rocks in the Barboursville basin. We hypothesize that these quartz crystals formed in the Catoctin Formation when it was metamorphosed. Quartz from samples of the Catoctin greenstone and Barboursville Basin were analyzed and compared to the quartz crystal ecofacts through sample imaging and oxygen isotope analysis. Together, these datasets contribute insights to where the quartz crystals formed. Determining the process through which the quartz crystal ecofacts formed has implications for understanding regional geologic conditions. 

Marina Ashurkoff is an English & Geology double major. Their research interests include geoarcheology, petrology (the processes through which rocks are transformed by variables like heat and pressure), and structural geology. Their thesis applies these concepts to quartz crystal ecofacts discovered at the Burial Ground of the Enslaved at James Madison's Montpelier, Virginia. Marina has previously presented their research at the Geological Society of America Connects conference this past fall. 

Mason Guerster

"Abstraction of Water"

Advisor: Dr. Michael Gaynes

I used to be scared of the ocean. Not like swimming at the beach or walking by the harbor, but the deep ocean. Being so far away from solid ground that you can turn in a full circle and not see any land. 

The ocean is alive. It’s constantly in motion. Being pulled by the moon for tidal shifts, lapping at the shore, growing and changing with the world. 

I stood on the deck of the Harvey Gamage, the stars that followed my schedule of being on watch from four to eight lighting the sky, creating a map. 95 ft on deck, 135 ft with the bowsprit. She groaned with the weight of 1800 sq ft of sails filled with wind. Somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, no land in sight. Clipped into the lifelines, I made my way back to the helm, balancing on the windward side. The ship and the wind are friends, and I am just along for the ride. It is scary, that feeling. Not knowing when you will see land, relying on the wind and waves to get you home. Like the stars that I got so familiar with, you get to learn the sea; its energy, the patterns, the colors. The wind is a different being, not as constant as the sea. Sometimes they work together, sometimes they work against each other. The sea can tell you when the wind is coming, if you pay attention. Slight ripples on the surface, if it’s calm. 

It happens so fast. A wave only looks like a wave for a few seconds. A swell might only be at its peak for even less time. But those moments can be so influential when you are relying on the sea to carry you home. 

The energy is mesmerizing. The ocean as a body, the surface tension holding it all together like skin. Like a sail holds the wind. I spend so much time with that feeling, experiencing that energy, harnessing it. But what does that energy look like? How big would it be? What would it feel like to touch? 

How does that feeling of vast and energetic movement translate into something static? 

Mason Guerster is a major in Studio Art & Chinese Studies at William & Mary. Her research in Studio Art focuses on the subject matter of natural water in sculptural forms. Her primary sculptural mediums include ceramics, stone, bronze, and leather. Her thesis is an exploration of abstract sculptural forms. 

Kate Carline

"Transcriptomic Analysis and Genetic Engineering of a Novel Integrative Phage Satellite"

Advisor: Dr. Margaret Saha

Bacteriophages (phage) are small viruses that can infect bacteria, either through killing bacteria upon infection (lytic life cycle) or integrating into the bacterial genome and remaining dormant as a prophage (lysogenic life cycle). Phage satellites—mobile gene elements which require a helper prophage to propagate—have great potential to revolutionize synthetic biology applications, including towards bacterial gene editing, targeted phage therapy, and pathogen detection. Extracellular Prophage-Inducing Particles (EPIPs) are a newly-identified class of phage satellites that target bacteria of the Mycobacteriaceae family. EPIPs have particular applications for engineering native soil microbial communities to improve environmental health as well as treating infections causing tuberculosis and leprosy. However, little is currently known on EPIP regulation of lytic and lysogenic life cycles or whether EPIPs could be engineered to deliver novel bacterial genes. To address these knowledge gaps, this project employs RNA-Sequencing to analyze gene expression after EPIP infection and Golden Gate Assembly to re-build a target EPIP with a fluorescent reporter gene. Ultimately, these approaches will help pave the way for future EPIP-based biotechnology applications. 

Kate Carline is a Murray 1693 Scholar studying Biology and Public Policy with a focus on synthetic biology applications of bacteriophage. She has published research three times, including for her work on William & Mary’s iGEM team, a globally-recognized group researching applications of engineered bacteria and phage in soil, and in Dr. Margaret Saha’s Phage Lab, where she characterized a novel phage. Next year, she will attend the University of Cambridge as a Churchill Scholar.

Grace Hussey

"The Roles of ttyh1 and ttyh3 in the Neural Development of Xenopus laevis and their Connection to the Notch Signaling Pathway"

Advisor: Dr. Margaret Saha

Neural development is a complex, dynamic process in which neural stem cells (NSCs) differentiate into cells of the mature nervous system. This tightly-regulated process involves the coordinated expression of numerous genes as directed by signaling pathways. One such signaling pathway, the Notch pathway, is highly conserved in neural development due to its role in the maintenance and differentiation of NSCs. ttyh1, a member of the tweety gene family, has been identified as a target of Notch signaling. The tweety genes– ttyh1, ttyh2, and ttyh3– demonstrate strong central nervous system expression, with ttyh1 expression observed in actively-dividing NSCs and ttyh3 expression observed in post-mitotic neurons. Despite its implication in NSC regulation and disease, whether ttyh1 acts upstream or downstream or both of Notch signaling has not been determined. Additionally, interaction between ttyh3 and Notch has not been explored. To elucidate these relationships, spatiotemporal changes in ttyh1 and ttyh3 expression are observed following hyperactivation of the Notch pathway. Additionally, differential expression of two neural marker genes, SRY-box 2 (Sox2) expressed in neural progenitor cells and neural beta tubulin (tubb2b) expressed in post-mitotic neurons, is observed following overexpression and knockout of ttyh1 or ttyh3. This project aims to characterize the connection between the tweety genes and the Notch signaling pathway, as well as the roles of the tweety genes in NSC regulation during neural development.

Grace Hussey is a senior majoring in neuroscience and minoring in English. Her research areas include neural development and genomics. Her thesis examines the roles of the genes ttyh1 and ttyh3 in the neural development of Xenopus laevis and their connection to the Notch signaling pathway. 

Taylor LaFontaine

"Characterization of Filamentous Prophage in the Bacterial Genus Pseudomonas"

Advisor: Dr. Kurt Williamson

This project investigates virus-like elements that are embedded within the genomes of several Pseudomonas bacterial strains and examines how they can be activated and visualized. These embedded viruses can either remain dormant in the bacterial DNA or switch to an active state in which they produce large numbers of viral particles. In this work, multiple Pseudomonas strains were grown under controlled laboratory conditions and evaluated using a combination of DNA-based computer analysis, high-resolution electron microscopy, and chemical induction methods. Genomic analysis indicated the presence of regions consistent with viral sequences in these bacteria. Electron microscopy revealed numerous filamentous and head–tail structures associated with the cells, and quantitative measurements showed that these filaments differ in size from the bacteria’s own flagella, supporting their identification as filamentous viral particles. When cultures were treated with a chemical known to trigger dormant viruses and visualized under a fluorescent microscope, the number of virus-like particles increased markedly compared with untreated controls, indicating successful induction. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the examined Pseudomonas strains harbor inducible, viral particles and illustrates a practical workflow for detecting and characterizing similar elements in other Pseudomonas strains and bacterial genuses.

Taylor LaFontaine is majoring in Biology and minoring in Biochemistry at William and Mary. Her research areas include viral ecology and microbiology. Her thesis explores the relationship between filamentous bacteriophages and the bacterial genus Pseudomonas. The hypothesis that said phages exist as prophages within the Pseudomonas bacterial genomes is highly supported by her data, and she is working on presenting her findings at the American Society for Microbiology next summer.

Bernardo Jimenez

"Why (And How Strongly) Are We Obligated to Behave Morally? An Analysis of Moral Intuitionism and Its Relation to Practical Reason and Fundamental Normative Authority"

Advisor: Dr. Joshua Gert

Everyone knows senseless killing is wrong, but why? What are we even talking about when we say that? How can we know that? And what is the importance of this knowledge? This paper explores a specific set of arguments for moral realism (the idea that morality is objective and mind-independent) and the ramifications of those arguments in determining how we ought to act. These arguments all come from the lens of moral intuitionism---an epistemological argument that claims our intuitions themselves are enough to establish the objective, mind-independent truth of morality. Even if we accept this as true, for moral realism to matter, we must also be compelled to behave in accordance with moral norms. Otherwise, the truth of morality would have almost no impact on our everday lives. Given all of this, I ask if moral intuitionism is compatible with the idea that we are strongly obligated to behave in accordance with moral norms. I explore the relationship between truth and behavior in morality as it pertains to moral intuitionism, examining the work of authors such as W.D. Ross, Michael Huemer, and Russ-Shafer Landau. I find that while moral intuitionists have some success in establishing the overall rational permissibility of moral behavior, there is much more latitude in how we can behave then perhaps some of these moral intuitionists would like to explicitly admit. With that, we can conclude that perhaps we have more freedom then we'd like to behave immorally in some ultimate sense.

Bernardo Jimenez is majoring in Economics and Philosophy at William & Mary. He is the founder, captain and coach of the William & Mary Ethics Bowl team. His research involves normativity, moral intuitionism, and practical reasons. His thesis addresses moral intuitionism and its relationship to behavior through the lens of rationality and fundamental normative authority.

Clara Rinker

"Inventing Spain: Asturias, Pelayo, and the Mythmaking of National Identity"

Advisor: Dr. Álvaro Garrote Pascual

This thesis examines how the Asturian myth of Covadonga and the figure of Pelayo have shaped and continue to shape constructions of Spanish national identity. This thesis explores how the region’s early geographic isolation was later mythologized into a symbol of Catholic purity and resistance. From the Middle Ages through the Franco dictatorship and into contemporary conservative discourse, the evolving dramatization of Pelayo and the Battle of Covadonga has served to position Asturias as the birthplace of both the Reconquista and the Spanish nation itself. Tracing the transformation of this myth from medieval legend to national symbol, the thesis focuses on its romantic reinvention during the nineteenth century’s surge of European nationalism, Franco’s twentieth-century appropriation of Asturian symbolism to sacralize Spanish Catholic identity, and its present-day revival by political movements such as Vox, which invoke Covadonga to promote a “cultural reconquest” grounded in exclusionary nationalist values. At the same time, this research exposes the complexity of Spanish national and regional identity, highlighting the divergence between Asturian self-understandings and their national romanticization. Ultimately, this thesis argues that while the myth of Asturias continues to define the symbolic boundaries of Spanish identity, regional and pluralistic reinterpretations challenge its use in exclusionary narratives and gesture toward more progressive understandings of Spain’s past and present.

Clara Rinker is majoring in Mathematical Biology and Hispanic Studies at William & Mary. Her research areas include statistical genetics and current perspectives on the mythology of Asturias in contemporary Spain. This thesis aims to identify how current discourse, especially in conservative political parties, in Spain use the mythology associated with Asturias as the birthplace of the Reconquista and Catholic Spain in defining Spanish national identity and the ideals that come with it. 

John Carroll

"Improving Medical Technology by Deciphering the Dark Magic of Electromagnetic Interference"

Advisor: Dr. Ran Yang

The introduction of electricity revolutionized the world, improving standards of living and connecting the globe through telecommunications. The effects of these electronics extend beyond the wire from which the current is confined, as electric and magnetic fields emanate from the wires. As humans continue to improve and shrink electronics, these fields interfere with electrical signals and connections, a phenomenon that is often dubbed “dark magic” by engineers. This interference can cause important electronics to fail, an outcome that could cause massive damage to a society in which electronics are integral to the systems which allow humans to lead safe and fruitful lives. This research explores the process of miniaturizing electronic circuits in order to reduce costs and increase accessibility for medical devices. While doing so, prototypes must be analyzed to ensure that the aforementioned interference does not cause equipment failures for essential equipment. By harnessing the physics that rule electronic behavior, interference can be understood. When the “dark magic” of interference is deciphered, it can be used to design improved systems while maintaining reliability, allowing for leaps in technology and efficiency. 

John Carroll is a Senior majoring in Economics and Physics, with a concentration in Engineering Physics and Applied Design, at William & Mary. His research focuses on advancing medical technology through applied engineering. His thesis focuses on miniaturizing electrical circuits while studying and mitigating the electrical and magnetic interference.

Anna McClellan

"State Perpetrators of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and Russia"

Advisor: Dr. Archana Kaku

For my honors thesis, I am looking to identify what causes state actors to perpetrate sexual violence as a tool and weapon in conflict. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and Russia have all been identified by the United Nations as state perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict and have been selected as case studies for this research. To conduct this research, I am using journal articles, books, and published statistics to study the various military structures, regime types, patriarchal beliefs, and societal views on sexual and domestic violence that contribute to the perpetration of conflict-related sexual violence in each state. I believe the results will support a theory that state militaries who perpetrate sexual violence as a tool and weapon in conflict have low military professionalism, authoritarian governments with patriarchal beliefs, and more tolerance of sexual and domestic violence within the states themselves. If this is true, going forward changing state views of sexual violence, promoting greater military professionalism, and transitions away from authoritarian governments may be able to lessen the amount of conflict-related sexual violence seen globally. This would not only protect victims, but prevent disease spread, promote more effective peacekeeping initiatives, and reduce overall cases of sexual violence.  

Anna McClellan is majoring in International Relations at William & Mary. She is passionate about public service and human rights, and her current research areas are conflict-related sexual violence, gender equality, and global health. Her thesis addresses regime types, military structures, and tolerance of sexual violence that correlates with state perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict through case studies of Russia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Myanmar. 

Alex McIntyre

"The Ethics of Enough: A Defense of Limitarianism"

Advisor: Dr. Maria Costa

This project attempts to defend Limitarianism, a moral principle arguing that we should put a cap on how much wealth individuals can have. The purpose of the principle is to help combat the negative effects of wealth inequality, especially those who are not having certain basic needs met. The project begins by defending institutional arguments made by the philosopher who first proposed Limitarianism, Ingrid Robeyns. There are two institutional arguments I will be defending: the argument from urgent needs and the democracy argument. The argument for urgent needs claims that while there are people currently suffering from a lack of resources to satisfy their basic needs (e.g. food, healthcare, and shelter) we have good reason to condemn the acquisition and spending of excess wealth if not to help them. The democracy argument asserts that wealth inequality damages political equality and makes the democratic system less effective. Along with defending these arguments, this thesis offers original moral arguments for Limitarianism. These arguments are directed at individuals rather than institutions. The moral arguments are both prudential and critical, claiming there are harms that excess wealth and inequality have on others, as well as benefits to adopting a more altruistic outlook. These moral arguments culminate in urging for a change in the social ethos, or the social norms we use to inform our interactions with others. Much like arguments that criticize those who are unfaithful to their significant others, the goal of these moral arguments is to give reasons why we should not condone the accumulation and further acquisition of excess wealth.  

Alex is a senior at the College of William & Mary, majoring in Philosophy and History. His areas of research are Applied Ethics, Metaphysics, and Political Philosophy. His thesis addresses wealth inequality, through applied ethics, and political philosophy. He is interested in the legal field, especially the intersection of ethics and policy. 

Sofia LoBue

"'Money Talks: Investigating the Links between U.S. Foreign Aid and the Taliban’s Anti-Western Rhetoric"

Advisor: Dr. Mark Deming

Since the end of the Second World War, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars of aid to countries around the world, seeking to accomplish a host of goals including economic development, democratization, and increased life expectancy. While numerous scholars have examined the effectiveness of aid to accomplish these aims, few recent studies analyze the soft power implications of aid programs that operate as tools of statecraft. Fewer studies have acknowledged the indirect role that non-state actors (NSAs) play in relation to the flow of foreign aid and those who receive it. This study addresses both the place of foreign aid within the wider strategies of donor countries as well as the influence of NSAs by examining the relationship between the character of U.S. foreign aid and rhetoric about the U.S. from NSAs. Using the case of U.S. aid in Afghanistan and biannual speeches by the Taliban Mullahs Omar and Akhundzada between 2001 and 2023, this project asserts that the character of foreign aid signals strategic intentions of donor countries to NSAs, who use rhetoric to influence the perceptions of end users about both the aid provided and the donor countries. This project first suggests a novel theoretical model of foreign assistance flows then applies it to the case of Afghanistan. The findings of this research underscore the strategic importance of aid in statecraft, especially in cases where NSAs exert significant influence over end users.

Sofia LoBue is a senior majoring in International Relations and minoring in Religious Studies through the William & Mary/St. Andrews Joint Degree Programme. Her research focuses include foreign aid effectiveness, terrorism, and political violence. Sofia's honors thesis identifies the interaction between foreign aid and non-state actors. She has previously published research on foreign aid, neocolonialism, and peacebuilding to the University of St. Andrews' Visualising Peace Library.

Bailey Nicholson

"Baby Carrots and Wooden Sticks - Changing Equilibria as a Function of the Legacy of U.S. Foreign Aid"

Advisor: Dr. Daniel Maliniak 

The literature on sanction implementation is mixed. The U.S. Treasury echoed increasing calls for restraint, calling sanctions a “tool of first resort” for foreign policy. Policy makers and scholars both call for increasing integration between all aspects of U.S. Economic Statecraft.  Despite this, we see an increasing disconnect between the various soft power elements of the U.S. government, and a multitude of cases of simultaneous aid and sanctions, and aid changing sanctions behavior, even long after the aid was stopped.  Using both sequential and collective bargaining models, combined with empirical testing, I find evidence of the extension of acceptable outcome ranges. That is, the act of giving aid ultimately shifts some of the leverage to the receiving country if it moves away from the United States.  This work joins several previous desperate hypotheses regarding the bureaucratic and institutional factors driving foreign involvement.  Overall, these findings add to the literature on sanctions' use and effectiveness, as well as to the growing academic work on economic statecraft aimed at addressing non-cooperative behavior by states.  

Bailey Nicholson is double-majoring in Government and Economics at William and Mary. His research interests include sanctions, aid, politics of the caucuses, and economic coercion.  His thesis examines sanctions as a function of the legacy of foreign aid, with particular attention to Georgia.  He serves as a Senior Editor for the Monitor Journal of International Studies.  

Georgi Butch 

"Industry-Specific Effects of Job Lock"

Advisor: Dr. Peter McHenry

The notion of job lock refers primarily to the phenomenon in which an individual forgoes the opportunity for more productive employment due to the high opportunity cost of losing their current job, which offers some non-wage benefit that may be difficult to obtain elsewhere. In the United States, health insurance is a common fringe benefit provided by employers to employees. Previous studies examining whether job lock is prevalent in the United States have yielded varying results, but few, if any, question whether the phenomenon may have heterogeneous effects across industries; in other words, industry-specific factors may influence labor market mobility among individuals who receive health insurance benefits from their employer. In this paper, I will introduce a new model for understanding the role of job amenities in producing job lock. Then, using data from the Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), I will assess the impacts of job lock following the natural experiment of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid Expansion, which extended Medicaid access to those with incomes within 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level in 25 states on January 1st, 2014. I will determine the effects of the expanded Medicaid policy on job mobility for people within the eligible income bracket who were obtaining health insurance from their employer prior to the enactment of the policy. Furthermore, I will separate individuals by occupation to test the hypothesis that those in occupations with fewer amenities experience job lock at higher rates than those in more amenable occupations and therefore should show higher levels of mobility due to the Medicaid Expansion's augmentation of non-employer sponsored health insurance options. 

Georgi Butch is a senior majoring in economics and minoring in mathematics in the Joint Degree Programme at William & Mary. Her research interests focus on labor economics and other microeconomic topics. 

Namitchandra Nallapaneni

"Development of Secretome-Bioink 3D Printed Scaffolds for Cartilage Regeneration in Diabetes"

Advisor: Dr. Indranath Mitra

Although stem cell therapies are a solution to intervertebral disc degeneration (IVD), their efficacy in diabetic conditions is limited due to cellular migration and delocalization. GelMA-10%PEGDA hydrogels, previously shown to restore loss of function in IVD, provide an ideal biomaterial foundation for stem cell encapsulation. We fabricated GelMA-10%PEGDA hydrogels via visible light digital light processing using a stem cell-laden bioink. To functionally restore IVD under diabetic conditions, the scaffold was enriched with endothelial and macrophage secretomes–cellular metabolic secretions. Endothelial secretomes have been shown to support stem cell survival under diabetic stress, whereas macrophage secretomes have been shown to actively promote IVD restoration. The objective is to develop a novel bioactive bioink, comprising a dual-secretome formulation and stem cells, to overcome the cytotoxic and regenerative barriers of diabetic cartilage repair. We hypothesize that the resulting cell-laden scaffolds will both mitigate stem cell delocalization and synergistically enhance diabetic IVD restoration.

Namit Nallapaneni is a senior majoring in Computational Applied Mathematics & Statistics with a concentration in Mathematical Biology and a minor in Biology. His research interests include biomaterials, stem cell engineering, and bioinformatics. His honors thesis focuses on developing efficient biomaterial-based strategies to repair diabetic cartilage degeneration. He has presented his research at institutions and conferences across the United States and internationally in Paris.

Clara Rinker

"Beyond Association: Identifying Genetic Drivers of Serum Neurofilament Light Chains (sNfL) Through GWAS and Post-GWAS Analysis"

Advisor: Dr. Yuming Sun

This project focuses on the identification of genetic drivers of serum neurofilament light chains (sNfL) which is a commonly used biomarker for multiple sclerosis (MS). While sNfL has been used as a biomarker for MS for quite some time now, no research has been done on the genetic elements of the biomarker production. The project consists of two main components including three genome wide association study models (GWAS) in which patient data is fit to a linear model to identify top-hit genetic variants that could be correlated with the production of sNfL as well as post-GWAS analysis of those top hit variants. In the post-GWAS analysis phase, it is possible to examine the function and genome location of the top-hit variants as well as investigate the impact they may have on specific genes. This allows for analysis of impact of top-hit variants on the biomarker genotype itself as well as implications for the disease phenotype of multiple sclerosis.   

Clara Rinker is majoring in Mathematical Biology and Hispanic Studies at William & Mary. Her research areas include statistical genetics and current perspectives on the mythology of Asturias in contemporary Spain. This thesis aims to identify genetic drivers of the multiple sclerosis biomarker serum neurofilament light chains (sNfL). This research is also being conducted through the advice of the UAB School of Public Health. 

Kira Fisher

"Enhancing Method Development with a Sustainable Approach using GCxGC"

Advisor: Dr. Katelynn Perrault Uptmor

Forensic science often deals with the analysis of true unknowns in evidence samples such as drugs and chemical residue where analyte identification comes with no pre-existing information. Nontargeted screening can support the comprehensive characterization of true unknowns more successfully than targeted methods for one or several analytes. One nontargeted technique is comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS), a separation technique that separates analytes based on two independent retention mechanisms. This study aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness, sustainability, and efficiency of hydrogen as a carrier gas for GC×GC-TOFMS while analyzing a chemical agent. Using hydrogen over helium as a carrier gas leads to significantly shorter run times and can reduce carrier gas costs, both benefits that were observed in this study. Significant improvements in resolution were also seen for GC×GC-TOFMS analysis. Nontargeted analysis with GC×GC allowed for more peak capacity for unknown analytes instead of only targeted analytes in a specific range. With sustainable chemistry becoming more of a focus across the industry, the use of helium is less favorable, and alternative options are being sought. Acknowledging these enhancements when using hydrogen, this study demonstrated an effective and sustainable way to measure analytes in complex samples, namely pepper spray, using GC×GC-TOFMS.  

Kira Fisher is majoring in Chemistry at William & Mary. Her research areas include nontargeted separations, the use of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography, sustainability, and forensic analysis. Her thesis addresses a way to increase the sustainability of this method by using hydrogen as a carrier gas. She has published an article in LCGC International and is working toward publication in Analytical Chemistry.

Barbara Grace Saunders

"Developing a Holistic Approach to the Analysis of Green Gunshot Residue as Forensic Evidence"

Advisor: Dr. Katelynn Perrault Uptmor

Gunshot residue (GSR) is expelled as a “plume” of vaporized material during a firearm discharge event. As it disperses, condenses, and settles on surfaces in vicinity of the discharge, it creates chemical depositions that provide essential information for forensic casework involving criminal firearm usage. GSR contains organic (OGSR) and inorganic (IGSR) components, both of which may carry evidentiary value. Traditional analyses involve the targeted point analysis of IGSR via scanning electron microscopy – energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and conclusions are drawn based on a well-established elemental and morphological profile “characteristic” to IGSR. This method has lost impact as a standard for forensic analysis due to increased use of “green” – heavy-metal free – ammunition, which omits the lead, barium, and antimony that are traditionally seen as the “characteristic” markers of GSR. This study aimed to develop a holistic approach to the analysis of GSR using both SEM-EDS as a targeted approach to IGSR analysis and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography – time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) as a nontargeted approach to OGSR analysis. GSR samples were collected from the hands of shooters at a police firearms recertification training using the tape lift method. SEM-EDS was used to identify IGSR particles new morphological and elemental profiles of heavy metal-free residues. OGSR components have been positively identified through sample analysis via liquid extraction, chromatographic separation via GC×GC-TOFMS, and data processing. Future work on this project will include the optimization of data processing methods and the development of SPME as an alternative sample extraction method.

B. Grace Saunders is majoring in Chemistry and minoring in English at William & Mary. Her research areas include analytical chemistry and forensic science. Her thesis addresses improving the courtroom viability of heavy metal-free gunshot residues as forensic evidence through updating standard forensic laboratory procedures to reflect current field conditions and developing new analytical methods to complement previously-accepted standards.